Leer conveyer



lV. A. KENDALL.

LEER CONVEYER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 6, 1921.

Patented. Oct. IVY; 11922,

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LEER CONVEYER.

APPL|cAT|oN FILED SEPT. e, 1921.

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LEER CONVEYER.

APPLICATION HLED SEPT. e, 192|.

LASQSl-l l Patented; Oct. l?, 1922..

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Patented @et 17, 1922..

entre@ sraras PATENT @FFHCED MYRON A. KENDALL, OF AURORA, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO STEPHENS-ADAMSON MFG. CO., OF AURORA, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OIE ILLINOIS.

LEER CONVEYER.

Application filed September 6, 1921. Serial No. 498,83-8.

T 0 all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, MYRoN A. KENDALL, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Aurora, county of Kane, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Leer Conveyors, of which the following is a specification, and which are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

rlhe invention relates to leer conveyers, its object being to provide a conveyer having as its sole traveling elements a plurality of unconnected pans for carrying glassware, or

the like, through an annealing furnace or' leer. A further object is to provide simple and convenient means for bringing the pans to the leer, advancing them through the same, and for returning the empty pans to the place of refilling.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view, partially in diagram, representing a portion of a glass-making p-lant equipped with the improved leer-'conveyer, a part of the leer being shown in section' 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the leer and conveyer taken on the line) 2 2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a detail side elevation of the conveyer showing a. conventional form of operating means, and with a detail of the leer represented in longitudinal section;

Figs. 4 and 5 are enlarged details of the operating mechanism shown in plan and side elevation, respectively, some of the adjacent parts of the conveyer being shown in both views.

While the conveyer is designed primarily for use in a glass-making plant, it will be evident that the invention is not necessarily limited to such use. While the description relates to the glass-making art, this is not intended as a limitation uponthe sco-pe of the claims.

Referring particularly to F'ig. 1, there is conventionallyV represented at 10 a furnace for melting and containing the batch from which glass articles are to be made. From the furnace the molten mass ispassed into molding o-r bottle-making machines, which are conventionally represented at 11 and.' three of which are shown. The completed bottles are placed on wheeled trucks, or socalled pans 12, and as each pan is filled it is rapidly conveyed to the entrance of the annealing furnace or leer 14.

The. rapid movement of the loaded pans to the entrance of the annealing furnace is of importance in avoiding any substantial cooling 0f the bottles or other glass articles produced by the machines 11 in advance of treatment of the same in the leer. As shown, the wheels 12a of the pans run` upon tracks 13, one set of which extends from each of the said molding machines 11 through and beyond the leer, and that part 13a of each trac-k which extends between the corresponding molding. machine and the mouth of the leer is downwardly inclined, as shown in Fig. 3, for the movement of the pans along the same by gravity.

While the leer 14 will usually be wide enough to receive a number of the tracks 13,

the track extending from each molding machine 11 is preferably otherwise entirely independent of all of the others, and move ment of the pans on .different tracks may vary for passage of the pans through the leer at different .rates in accordance with the size and character of the glassware produced by the different machines 11. For this purpose a separate pusher mechanism, generally designated 15, is provided for advancing the pans upon each track through the leer. These pusher mechanisms are. preferably located adjacent the entrance of the leer for engagement withthe pans 12 as they reach the lower end of the inclined portion 13'a of the corresponding track. While allv `mechanism. Furthermore, as all of these pusher mechanisms may be 0f like construction, but one of them is shown in detail in the drawings.

As shown, each pusher mechanism 15 includes a plunger 16, preferably having a uniform horizontal reciprocating movement through a distance equal to the spacing of the wheels 12a of the pans 12. A pan 12 is thereby moved into the leer "14 whenever, by its descent upon the inclined portion 13a' of the correspondingtrack 13, it is positioned for engagement of one of its axles, as 46 (Fig. 5), by the plunger 16, and all other pans upon the same track, in advance of the one so engaged, are moved a like distance. 'I` he rate of movement of the pans through the leer, upon any track 13, is accordingly determined by the rate of reciprocation of the corresponding plunger 16.

The construction of the pusher mechanism 15 may take any convenient form, and any desired form of mechanism may be employed for operating the same from the power shaft, las 25. Preferably, however, the plunger 16 is constructed to engage with one of the axles, as 46, of the pan while moving in a forward direction, but to pass under the axles of the pan on its return movement. As shown, the plunger 16 is centrally located. between the rails of the corresponding track 13, where it is hingedly mounted upon a cross-head 20, which is slidingly mounted between the rails. A spring 21, reacting between the cross-head2@ and plunger 16, serves to normally support the plunlger in operative position but to permit the yielding of same on its return movement.

The reciprocation of the cross-head 20 may be accomplished through a pitman 22, having one end connected to a crank disc 23 and the other end operatively connected to the cross-head. The range of movement of the cross-head is thereby made to correspond with the spacing of the wheels 12a ofthe pans, but its rate of movement may be 'varied by changing the rate of'rotation of the crank disc 23. mounted upon one end of a horizontal stub shaft 24, and this stub shaft also carries a gear pinion 25, which meshes with a ring gear 26 formed upon the rim of a vertically disposed friction disc 27. This disc is likewise mounted upon one end of a horizontal stub shaft 28, and a friction wheel 29 operatively engages the face of the disc for driving same, power being derived from the shaft 25 through a pair of bevel gears 30, 31,'and a countershaft 32 upon which the friction wheel 29 is splined. Movement of the friction wheel 29 along the countershaft 32, as by means of an adjusting handle 33 carry- 'ing a forked arm 34 for engagement with a groove 35 formed in the hub of the wheel, serves for varying the speed at which the friction disc 27 is driven.

As the tracks 13 may extend for any desired distance beyond the discharge or cold end of the leer 14, removal of the glassware carried by the pans 12 may be accomplished at the convenience of the attendants. When the glassware has been so removed the pans 12 are preferably returned to a position adjacent the molding machines 11, as by transferring them to an overhead inclined track, conventionally represented by the dot and dash line 36 (Fig. 1). 0n the other hand, should any one of the pans have been damaged during its travel through the leer, it may be thrown aside for repair or discarded As shown, the crank disc 23 is entirely without in any wise interfering with the operation of the conveyer as a whole. It will be understood, however, that since the pans are moved through the leer by pressure applied through following pans, injury toy any pan during its travel, as the breaking of a wheel 12 or the like, will not interfere with the movement of the other pans in the same row, and may be disregarded until the damaged pan reaches the discharge or cold end of the leer.

Obviously a vgreater number of pans 12 than is required to form a ,continuous row upon each track 13 will usually be provided in order that a supply of pans will always be available for loading at each of the molding machines, as 11. It will also be understood that since the pans are loaded immediately adjacent the several molding machines 11 and move by gravity, when released, to the mouth of the leer, where they become units in continuous rows of pans extending through the leer, the provision of special carrying-in mechanism for conveying the glassware from the molding machines to the leer, and the necessity for transferring the glassware from the carrying-in mechanism to the leer conveyer, are entirely avoided.

I claim as my invention- 1. In combination, a leer, a plurality of separate conveyers extending through the leer from end to end and arranged in parallel relation, and means for-driving the different conveyers at different speeds.

2. In combination, a leer, a plurality of unconnected wheeled ware-carrying pans, a stationary track extending through the leer from end to end and upon one vend of which the'pans are successively received for movement along the track in a continuous row, and means for advancing the row of pans engageable only with the last pan in the row.

3. Iny combination, a leer, a stationary track extending through the leer from end to end, and a plurality of unconnected wheeled ware-carrying pans mounted on the track for movement along the same in a continuous row extending throughout the length of the leer.

4. In combination, a leer, a stationary track extending through the leer from end to end, a plurality of unconnected wheeled ware-carrying pans mounted on the track for movement along the salire in a continuous row extending throughout the length of the leer, and means for advancing the row of ans engageable only with the last pan in t e row. j

. 5. The combination with the molding machine, and the leer of a glass plant, of a plurality of unconnected wheeled ware-earrying pans, a stationary track for the pans extending from the molding machine to and y carrying pans,

free movement of individual a plurality through the leer from end to end of the same, that part of the track located between the molding machine and the adjacent end of the leer bcingconstructedfor pans along. the same from the molding machine to the leer, and means for advancing the pans along the track in a continuous row through the leer comprising a'reciprocating pusher en gageable successively with different pans when received at the said adjacent end of the leer.

6. The combination with the molding machine, and the leer of a glass plant, of a plurality of unconnected. wheeled warea stationary track for the pans extending from the molding machine to and through the same, that part of the'track located be- -tween the molding machine and the adjacent end of the leer being inclined for movement of individual pans along the same by gravity from the molding machinev to the leer.

7. The combination with the molding machine and the leer of a glass plant, of a plurality of unconnected wheeled warecarrying pans, a stationary track for the pans extending to and through the leer from end to end of the same, that part of the track located between the molding machine and the adjacent end of the leer being inclined for movement of individual pans along the same by ravity from the mlolding machine to the Ieer, and means for advancing the pans along the track in a continuous row through the leer comprising a reciprocating pusher engageable successively with different pans when received .at the said adjacent end ot' the leer.

8. In a glass plant, the combination with of molding machines and a common leer, of a plurality of separate stationary tracksy one extending continuously the leer from end to end of from the mol-ding machine.

romeach molding machine to and through the leer from end to `end of the same,

.and wheeled ware carrying pans running 11.. In combination, a leer, a plurality of conveyers extending through the leer from end to end and arranged in parallel relation, each conveyer comprising a plurality of unconnected elements.

12. In combination wlth -a plurality of molding machines and a common leer, a plurality of separate stationary tracks one ex tending continuously to and through the leer from end to end of the same, ware carrying ypans Arunning on each track, and means for advancing the pans on the dier' ent tracks at diHerent speeds. f

13. In combination, a leer, a pluralit conveyers extending through the leer rom "end to end and arranged in parallel relation, a common means for advancing said conveyers, and means for varying the relative. speeds of the different conveyers.

14. In combination, a leer, a plurality of conveyers extending through the leer `trom end to endV and arranged in parallel relation, cach conveyor comprising a plurality of unconnected elements, a common source of power for advancing said conveyers, and

-means lfor varying ,the relative speeds of the different conveyers.

lMYRON A. KENDALL. 

